Playing apparatus for musical instruments.



W. G. REED.

PLAYING APPARATUS FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. APPLIOATIONTILED my 26, 1910.

Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

-2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PH CO.,WASHINOTON D c W1 0. REED.

PLAYING APPARATUS FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLIOATIQH FILED MAY 26, 1910.

1,058,902. A Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

41 A I I COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 10.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

, UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

WALTER C. REED, OF DALTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE TELELECTRIC COMPANY, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

PLAYING APPARATUS FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

Application filed May 26, 1910. Serial No. 563,490.

To all whom 2'25 may concern Be it known that I, WALTER C. REED, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dalton, in the county of Berkshire and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Playing Apparatus for Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic playing apparatus for pianos and other key-operated instruments in which the keys are actuated by electrically-energized playing magnets, to which type of apparatus my improvements are particularly applicable. In playing apparatus of this character, as here tofore constructed, provision has been made for regulating the loudness of the notes by throwing more or less resistance into the cir- I cuits which include the playing magnets, or by operating loud and soft pedals, or in both of these ways, but regulation of this character is deficient in that it fails to provide for the differentiation with respect to loudness of one or more notes from other simultaneously sounding notes, as is desirable in order to contrast the melody of a composition with the accompaniment, for example, and thus bring out the intended expression of the composition as a whole,

My present improvements are primarily intended to accomplish'the result just referred to, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, as embodied in an electrically-operated piano player, which, except as hereinafter described, may have the construction and mode of operation of the apparatus shown and described in U. S. Letters Patent No. 753,809, granted March 1,

1904, on the application of Powers and J ewell, to which Letters Patent reference may be made for a full understanding of the various parts and details which make up the complete apparatus. I have accordingly omitted the greater part of these details from the accompanying drawings and have merely shown therein, diagrammatically, the fundamental elements of the mechanism, such as the contact bar, certain of the contact fingers and resistances, the corresponding playing magnets, the generator for supplying the current, and such other parts and features as pertain especially to my present improvements.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a diagram showing the arrangement of the electric circuits with respect to the parts operated thereby; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of a suitable generator for supplying the electric current; and Fig. 3 is a plan view, onan exaggerated scale, showing a portion of a music sheet adapted for use in operating the playing apparatus.

The parts indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings include a metallic contact bar 2, contact fingers 3 adapted to make contact with the bar 2 independently of one another when permitted to do so by the perforated music sheet which controls their operation, a variable resistance a and a playing magnet 5 in series with each contact finger 3, and circuit wires extending from the playing magnets back to the contact bar 2 and including a suitable source of electric energy. Of the playing magnets indicated, two correspond to bass keys of the keyboard and two correspond to treble keys. All .the playing magnets, with the corresponding resistances and contact fingers, are arranged in parallel circuit, but instead of employing a common return wire for all of said magnets, I prefer to provide one return wire 6 for all the bass playing magnets and an independent return wire 7 for all the treble playing magnets, for reasons which will hereinafter appear.

The details of construction and arrangement of the contact bar, the contact fingers, the resistances and the playing magnets are assumed to be the same as in the Powers and Jewell patent above referred to, which also shows and describes suitable means for varying the resistances, pedal magnets and means for operating the same, mechanism for holding and operating the perforated music sheet, and other parts and details not necessary to be specifically included herein.

The electric current for operating apparatus of this character is usually provided by a motor-generator adapted to be connected to and operated by an ordinary electric lighting circuit, and in connection with my present improvements I prefer to employ a generator of such form and construction that direct currents of different voltage may be taken from it. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of such a generator, comprising field magnets 8, an armature 9, a commutator 10, the usual pair of oppositely-disposed brushes 11 and 12 arranged to take off a current of the maximum voltage, and

additional brushes 13 and 14 so located on the periphery of the commutator that a current of less than the maximum voltage may be taken olf by pairing either of these brushes with either one of the brushes on the opposite side of the commutator. In the example represented the maximum current is assumed to be a 14-volt current, which is taken off through the brushes 11 and 12. These brushes may therefore be regarded as having voltage values of 0 and 14 respectively, their difierence of potential being 14 volts, while the voltage Values of the brushes 13 and 14 are 2 and 10 respectively, so that a 10-volt current may be taken from the brushes 11 and 14 and an 8-vo-lt current may be taken from the brushes 13 and 14. The field magnets 8 are preferably energized by a shunt winding 15 taken from the brushes 11 and 12, a series winding 16 taken from the brush 12, and another series winding 17 taken from the brush 14. Any other source of electric energy may be employed instead of the gen erator above described, provided it is adapted to give continuous currents of suitably different voltages. The current by which the playing apparatus is operated under normal conditions is a 10-volt current, and is taken from the brushes 11 and 14 through conductors leading from the brush 11 to the bass and treble return wires 6 and 7 and from the brush 14 to the contact-bar 2, as hereinafter explained.

With the parts above described I combine one or more relay or switch magnets, according to the results whichit is desired to secure, each of these magnets serving, when energized, to operate a switch whereby the voltage and therefore the energy of the current sent through the playing magnets is altered and the loudness of the tones produced is correspondingly varied. In the arrangement illustrated I have shown two of these switch magnets, which are indi- I cated diagrammatically at 18 and 19 respectively. Referring first to the magnet 18, its armature 20 carries a metallic contact piece 21 which constantly remains in contact with a terminal 22 from which a circuit wire 23 leads to the contact bar 2. Two other terminals 24 and 25 are so located with relation to the contact piece 21 that the latter is always in cont-act with one or the other of them and is normally held, by gravity or otherwise, in contact with the terminal 24,

being shifted therefrom to the terminal 25 by the movement of the armature 20 when the magnet is energized. In like manner the armature 26 of the magnet 19 is provided with a contact piece 27 which is maintained in constant contact with a terminal 28 and with one or the other of two additional terminals 29 and 30, being normally held in contact with the terminal 29 and shifted therefrom to the terminal 30 when the magnet 19 is energized. Circuit wires 31 and 32 lead from the terminals 24 and 25 to the brushes 14 and 12 respectively, and other circuit wires 33 and 34 lead from the terminals 29 and 30 to the brushes 11 and 13 respectively, while the terminal 28 is connected by a circuit wire 35 with bass and treble return wires 6 and 7. The coils of the magnets 18 and 19 are electrically connected at one end to the circuit wire 33 by means of a conductor 36 and at their other ends to independent contact fingers 37 and 38 adapted to make contact with the bar 2 whenever such contact is permitted by the music sheet, which is provided with a special series of perforations, as hereinafter described, for operating each of the fingers 37 and 38. WVhen either of these fingers is thus operated the circuit through the corresponding magnet is closed by the way of the conductor 36 and the circuit wire 33 leading to the brush 11 on one side of the generator, and the circuit wire 23, terminals 22 and 24 and wire 31 leading from the bar 2 to the brush 14 on the other side of the generator. As thus constructed, whenever the finger 37 makes contact with the bar 2, thus closing the circuit through the switch magnet 18, the contact piece 21 is operated to switch the brush 12 into circuit, whereby the strength of the current sent through any of the playing magnets which may be operated at that time is raised to the maximum, the force exerted by these magnets on the corresponding keys and therefore the loudness of the tones produced being increased accordingly. As soon as the contact between the finger 37 and the bar 2 is broken, however, the contact piece 21 drops and the brush 14 is thrown into circuit, whereupon the current which operates the playing magnets is restored to its normal strength. On the other hand, whenever the finger 38 makes contact with the bar 2 the circuit through the switch magnet 19 is closed and the contact piece 27 carried by its armature 26 is operated to switch the brush 13 into circuit with the return wires 6 and 7, with the result that the strength of the current sent through any of the playing magnets is diminished and the loudness of the tones produced by the corresponding keys is correspondingly subdued. When the circuit through the magnet 19 is broken its armature drops and the normal current is switched on again.

It will be clear from the foregoing description that any increase or decrease in the voltage of the current which energizes the playing magnets will aifect all of these magnets which are.thrown into circuit after the change of voltage has been accomplished, so that some special provision must be made for differentiating one note, as a melody note, for example, from any other simultaneously sounding note or notes, such as accompaniment notes struck at the same time, and I accomplish this result by a special construction of the perforated music sheet which is employed to control the contact fingers, a portion of such a sheet being shown at 39 in Fig. 3. In this figure, the sheet 39 is shown as provided with a number of slots or perforations 40 adapted to control the operation of the contact fingers corresponding to certain notes of normal loudness, while 41 and 42 indicate slots for controlling the operation of the contact fingers corresponding to certain other notes which are to be sounded simultaneously with the notes first mentioned, but which are nevertheless to be differentiated therefrom in respect to their loudness of tone. Of these slots, the slot 41 corresponds to an accented note, that is to say, to a note which is to be given a greater loudness than the others, and this result is accomplished by displacing the slot 41 in the direction of its length with respect to the line 43, on which the forward ends of the slots 40 are located, in such manner that the forward end of the slot 41 will not reach the corresponding contact finger until slightly after the contact fingers corresponding tothe slots 40 have been reached by the forward ends of these slots, and by providing the sheet 39 with a slot 44 adapted to control the contact finger 37, Fig. 1, and having its forward end located sufiiciently in advance of the forward end of the slot 41 to cause the switch magnet 18 to be energized and operate by the time said slot 41 reaches the corresponding contact finger 3, but after the playing magnets corresponding to the slots 40 have been energized by the operation of these slots and the corresponding contact fingers. The exact position of the accenting slot 44 will depend somewhat upon the sluggishness of the magnet 18, but in the particular arrangement illustrated its forward end is located on the line 43. The more sluggish the magnet, the farther forward should be the location of the slot 44.

With the arrangement just described, when the music sheet 39 is moved forward and the line 43 reaches the series of contact fingers, the playing magnets corresponding to the slots 40 will be simultaneously energized by a current of the normal voltage,

and at substantially the same time the mag-' net 18 will be energized through the agency of the slot 44, this operation being very quickly followed by an increase in the voltage of the circuit and by the simultaneous energizing of the playing magnet corresponding to the slot 41 by a current of proportionately increased strength. In the meantime the playing magnets corresponding to the slots 40 will operate their keys to such an extent that the increase of current through these magnets, due to the iii-- crease of voltage, will not substantially affect the loudness of the tones thereby produced, but the playing magnet corresponding to the slot 41, being energized from the beginning of its operation by a current of increased strength, will not only operate more powerfully and therefore increase the force of the blow struck by the corresponding key, thus giving the desired accent to the note played thereby, but will also be operated more rapidly by the strengthened current, so that it will catch up, so to speak, with the playing magnets corresponding to the slots 40 and all of the notes will therefore be struck in unison, or substantially so.

In case it is desired to subdue a given note an analogous formation of the music sheet is adopted, except that in this case the forward end of the corresponding slot, represented in Fig. 3 by the slot 42, is located slightly in advance of the line 43, and the slot 45 which controls the contact finger 38 has its forward end located slightly in advance of the forward end of the slot 42. In this case, as the music sheet advances the switch magnet 19 is first operated through the agency of the slot 45, thus switching a current of diminished voltage into the cir cuit; the playing magnet corresponding to the slot 42 is then energized by the current thus diminished, and before the line 43 is reached the contact through the finger 38 is broken by the termination of the slot 45, whereupon the current is restored to its normal voltage and the playing magnets corresponding to the slots 40 are therefore energized by the restored current. The playing magnet corresponding to the slot 42 has in the meantime performed so much of its movement that the subsequent strengthening of the current has no substantial effect upon it, and the result is that the loudness of the corresponding note is subdued in comparison with the notes corresponding to the slots 40. The magnet corresponding to the slot 42 is also operated more slowly than the other magnets, by reason of the diminished cur rent which energizes it, so that all the notes are struck substantially in unison.

The form of playing magnet indicated in the drawings is particularly well adapted for use in connection with my improvements above described, because the velocity imparted to the key is determined for the most part by the force exerted upon the armature of the magnet during the first portion of its movement, and this force is proportionate to the strength of the current sent through the magnet at the beginning of its operation.

It will be understood that the time difierences represented by the relative displace ment of the slots 41 and 42 with respect to the line 43, and of the slots 44 and 45 with respect to the slots 41 and 42, are measured by small fractions of a second, the scale on which Fig. 3 is drawn being exaggerated in order that the relative positions of the various slots may be more clearly shown.

The music sheet may obviously have any of its note-playing slots arranged to accent or subdue the corresponding notes in the composition, whether such notes are sounded simultaneously with other notes or not, each slot corresponding to an accented or subdued note being accompanied by a slot such as 44 or 45 for effecting the desired change in the voltage of the energizing current. It will also be obvious that two or more notes may be simultaneously accented or simultaneously subdued in the manner above described, and thus difierentiated from any number of simultaneously sounding normal notes, and that such differentiation is independent of and additional to the effects produced by the variation of the resistances 4.

In Fig. 1 I have shown the return wires 6 and 7 as connected to manual switches 46 and 47 respectively, each of these switches being movable into contact with either one of a pair of terminals 48 and 49. The two terminals 48 are both connected to the circuit wire 34 leading from the brush 13, while the terminals 49 are connected to the wire 35 and thence through the terminal 28 and contact piece 27 with one or the other of the terminals 29 and 30, from which the wires 33 and 34 lead respectively to the brushes 11 and 13. This arrangement is convenient in that it provides for switching a current of diminished voltage into the energizing circuit at the will of the operator and thus subduing the notes struck by the playing magnets, irrespective of the operation of the switch magnet 19, and the object of providing independent return circuits for the bass playing magnets and the treble playing magnets is to enable the bass notes and the treble .notes to be independently subdued by suitably manipulating the switches 46 and 47. Thus when said switches are set on the terminals 48 the operation of the switch magnet 19 will have no effect on the voltage of the current, since this voltage has already been reduced by reason of the fact that the return wires 6 and 7 are now connected to the brush 13. hen the switches 46 and 47 are set on the terminals 49, however, the re- 1 turn wires 6 and 7 Wlll normally be connected with the brush 11 but will be switched into circuit with the brush 13 whenever the magnet 19 is energized, as already explained,

a The subduing arrangement comprising the switches 46 and 47, the switch magnet 19 and the associated parts may be utilized if desired for producing soft pedal effects, instead of employing for that purpose a soft pedal magnet and means for operating the same as shown and described in the Powers ,and Jewell patent above referred to, and this is advantageous in some cases in which the employment of a soft pedal magnet is inconvenient or undesirable, as is the case i when a playing apparatus of this character is to be applied to a grand piano, for example. Conversely, when a soft pedal magnet is employed the switch magnet 19 and associated parts may be omitted, the accenting devices being serviceable with either arrangement. l/Vhen the switch magnet 19 is employed, provision may be made for manually closing the circuit through it at will, irrespective of the contact finger 38, as by means of a short-circuit leading from the contact bar 2 around the finger 38 and including a push button 50. A similar shortcircuit leading around the contact finger 37 and including a push button 51 may be utibe arranged to operate'on any other line, the

position of all slots such as 44 and 45 would be varied accordingly, the object to be attained being the closing of the circuits through the corresponding switch magnets at the proper times with respect to the operation of the slots which correspond to the notes to be differentiated. It should also be pointed out that while in the foregoing description it is contemplated that an accented note or a subdued note shall be struck simultaneously, or practically so, with certain other notes, yet it may happen that for various'reasons, as in order to give a particular expression to a note or phrase in a composition, for example, it may be desirable to cause a differentiated note to be struck out of strict time, either by advancing it or by delaying it, and in such case the relation of the corresponding slots with respect to their strict tempo line (as the line 43 in Fig. 3,) will. be varied accordingly, so that it may even be possible for the slot corresponding to an accented note to extend in advance of this line or for the slot corresponding to a subdued note to commence behind said line, the corresponding slots 44 and 45 being located accordingly. With such an arrangement the accented or subdued note will, of course, be differentiated from the accompaniment notes not only in respect to loudness but also in respect to the time when these notes are struck, such a result being observable in the rendering of compositions by individuals, according to their ideas of proper expression.

I claim as my invention:

1. An electrically-operated playing apparatus for musical instruments, comprising playing magnets arranged on parallel circuits and asource of electric current for energizing said circuits indiscriminately, means comprising a special electric circuit for varying the strength of said current, and a music sheet provided with perforations for controlling said circuits and including perforations corresponding to notes of normal loudness, other perforations corresponding to differentiated notes, and other perforations corresponding to said special circuit, said perforations being so located that variations in the current strength are caused to affect the differentiated notes only.

2. An electrically-operated playing apparatus for musical instruments, comprising playing magnets arranged on parallel circuits and a source of electric current for energizing the same, circuit-controlling devices included in said circuits respectively,

means controlled by a supplemental circuit-controlling device for varying the strength of the current for the playing magnets, and a music sheet for operating said circuit-controlling devices and having perforations corresponding to notes of normal loudness, other perforations corresponding to differentiated notes, and supplemental perforations corresponding to the supplementary circuit-controlling device, the differentiated-note perforations being displaced longitudinally with reference to the perforations corresponding to any simultaneously sounding notes of normal loudness and each supplemental perforation being located in position to operate slightly in advance of a differentiated-note perforation.

3. An electrically-operated playing apparatus for musical instruments, comprising playing magnets arranged on parallel circuits and a source of electric current for energizing the same, circuit-controlling devices included in said circuits respectively, means comprising a switch magnet for varying the voltage of the current for the playing magnets, a supplementary circuitcontrolling device for the switch magnet, and a music sheet for operating said circuit controlling devices and having perforations corresponding to notes of normal loudness, other perforations corresponding to differentiated notes, and supplemental perforations corresponding to the supplementary circuit-controlling device, the differentiatednote perforations being displaced longitudinally with reference to the perforations corresponding to any simultaneously sounding notes of normal loudness and each supplemental perforation being located in position to operate slightly in advance of a differentiated-note perforation.

4. An electrically-operated playing apparatus for musical instruments, comprising playing magnets arranged on parallel circuits and a source of electric current for energizing the same, circuit-controlling devices included in said circuits respectively, means controlled by a supplementary circuit-controlling device for increasing the strength of the current for the playing magnets, anda music sheet for operating said circuit-controlling devices and having per forations corresponding to notes of normal loudness, other perforations corresponding to accented notes and located in position to operate slightly after the perforations corresponding to any simultaneously sounding notes of normal loudness, and supplemental perforations corresponding to the supplementary circuit-controlling device and each located in position to operate slightly in advance of an accented-note perforation.

5. An electrically-operated playing apparatus for musical instruments, comprising playing magnets arranged on parallel circuits and a source of electric current for energizing the same, circuit-controlling devices included in said circuits respectively, means comprising a switch magnet for increasing the voltage of the current for the playing magnets, a supplementary circuitcontrolling device for said switch magnet, and a music sheet for operating said circuit-controlling devices and having perforations corresponding to notes of normal loudness, other perforations corresponding to accented notes and located in position to operate slightly after the perforations corresponding to any simultaneously sounding notes of normal loudness, and supplemental perforations corresponding to the supplementary circuit-controlling device and each located in position to operate slightly in advance of an accented-note perforation.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 25th day of May, 1910.

VALTER C. REED.

Witnesses:

E. D. GHADWICK, HAROLD S. LYON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

